AdWeek: AdFreak

Advertising Student Ships His Pants to Kmart's Agency, Lands Internship

Tim Nudd — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:28:03 GMT

If you can ship your pants skillfully and creatively, you have a good chance of working at Kmart's ad agency, Draftfcb. The agency said today that it has brought in a new intern in large part because of his pants-shipping abilities. Al Zapata shipped his actual pants and résumé to Draftfcb's recruiting department. That got him an interview; his "portfolio, witty humor and enthusiasm" got him the internship, the agency says. This raises the possibility that you could get an internship at Y&R in New York simply by apologizing and then acting superior. More images below.

Girl Barfs Up Her Own Dad in Baffling Anti-Drinking Ad From Spain

Tim Nudd — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:43:06 GMT

"Every time you get drunk, you separate yourself from the things that matter most. Like your family." That's the voiceover in this weird anti-drinking ad from Spain, aimed at young adults. The girl in the ad is seen vomiting up what is apparently her father. The sound effects are nasty, and the metaphor isn't much better. Second spot after the jump, in which a guy gets "separated" from his girlfriend—by upchucking her on a bathroom floor. Agency: Bungalow 25. Via Ads of the World.

Even Home Intruders Get the Girl in Campaign for Axe's New Hair Products

Tim Nudd — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:55:56 GMT

'Tis the season for male-grooming brand extensions. Old Spice introduced its shaving gel last week. And now, Axe has updated its range of hair products for men. It's advertising them with four new 20-second ads from BBH London that have launched in Europe and will reach North America this weekend. The creative idea is that well-styled hair is crucial when you meet someone for the first time. The spots present various quirky first-meeting scenarios—the most faux-provocative of which is probably the home-invasion scenario, in which burglar seduces buglee with his perfectly slicked 'do. "We wanted to capture a simple truth about guys and their grooming habits," says David Kolbusz, deputy executive creative director at BBH. "Whenever a man sees a woman he fancies, he tends to touch up his hair before making the initial approach. We dramatized this behavior by setting it in the most extreme of circumstances." More spots and credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Lynx/Axe
Agency: BBH London

BBH Creative Team: Matt Fitch & Mark Lewis and Harry Orton and Robin Warman
BBH Creative Director: David Kolbusz
BBH Producer: Charlie Dodd
BBH Strategic Business Lead: Ngaio Pardon
BBH Strategy Director: Dan Hauck
BBH Strategist: Tim Jones
BBH Team Director: Heather Cuss
BBH Team Manager: Cressida Holmes Smith

Production Company: Outsider and Station Films
Director: Harold Einstein
Executive Producer: Eric Liney
Producer: Jon Stopp/Richard Packer
DoP: Danny Cohen
Post Production: The Mill
Editor/Editing House: The Mill
Sound: Factory

Oily Bohunk Josh Button Makes Landfall in Ad for Diet Dr Pepper

David Gianatasio — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:10:59 GMT

Damn you, hot hunks of advertising! Damn you to hot, hunky hell! Your Grecian glutes mock me as I polish off another nacho platter, and your six-pack abs shame me as I knock back my six-pack of beer! Shirtless Josh Button is the latest addition to the ad-hunk trend, rising seductively from the sea in Deutsch L.A.'s new tongue-in-cheek commercial for Diet Dr Pepper. (They make diet soda now?) "Millions of guys are born good looking," Button's voiceover begins, as the number 70,611,600 flashes on screen. "But not many are really good looking." The number 64,891 appears. "Even fewer are really, really, really, really, really good looking. At least, that's what I'm told." The number 45 zips by. "I'm Josh Button, and I'm one of a kind." We then get a full-on view of his chiseled torso as the red number 1 appears, thrust like a dagger into my cholesterol-clogged heart. (Hey, I'm at least one of the 70 million fairly OK-looking dudes, right?!) "We're poking fun at ourselves and the trend of hot guys in advertising," Dr Pepper svp of marketing Jaxie Alt tells USA Today, alluding to hunk sightings in spots for brands like Kraft Zesty Italian dressing and Diet Coke. After decades of impossibly trim bikini babes making women feel insecure, I guess it's men's turn to suffer. At least one advertiser out there is providing a more realistic depiction of the male form. But when you consider the state of that beach bum's liver, and his life expectancy, it's cold comfort indeed. Credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Brand: Diet Dr Pepper

Agency: Deutsch, Los Angeles
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Hunter
Group Creative Director: Brett Craig
Creative Director: Xavier Teo
ACD, Art Director: Erick Mangali
ACD, Copywriter: Chris DiNinno, Lehr E. Ryan
Director of Integrated Production: Vic Palumbo
Executive Producer: Lisa K. Johnson
Director of Content Production: Victoria Guenier
Ken Rongey: Senior Business Affairs Manager
Directors: Craig Brett/Mangali Erick
Director of Photography: Greig Fraser
1st A.D.: Anthony Dimino

Editorial Company:
Spot Welders, Santa Monica, CA
Editor: Patrick Murphree
Executive Producer: David Glean
Senior Producer: Carolina Wallace
Producer: J. Patrick McElroy

Post Facility - Color Only:
Company 3, Santa Monica, CA
Colorist: Dave Hussey

Visual Effects:
Arsenal FX, Santa Monica, CA
Post Production Company: Arsenal F/X
Executive Producer: Ashley Hydrick
VFX Supervisor/Design: Lauren Mayer-Beug
Flame: Mark Leiss and Terry Silberman
Designers/Animators: Andrew Schreiber
Post Producer: Pravina Sippy
Production Coordinators:

Music/Composer:
Elias Arts, Santa Monica, CA
Creative Director-Dave Gold
Executive Producer-Ann Haugen
Composer-David Wittman
Producer-Kiki Martinez

Audio Post Company/City/State:
Play Studios, Los Angeles, CA

Mixer:John Bolen
Executive Producer: Lauren Cascio

Others:
Mnemonic and End Tag
Wood Shop, Culver City, CA
CD/Product Director: Trevor Shephard
DP: Tom Lazarevich
Live Action Producer: Christy Lindgren
Post Producer: Sabrina Elizondo
Nuke Compositors: John Weckworth, Forbes Hill, Jon Lorenz, Ned Wilson, Thomas Horne
3D Artist: Forbes Hill, Cody Smith CD

Client Credits
Director of Creative: Shaun Nichols
Brand Manager – Diet Dr Pepper: Angela Snellings
Director of Marketing: Leslie Vesper
SVP, Director of Brand Marketing and Sponsorships: Jaxie Alt
SVP, Marketing: Andrew Springate
EVP, Marketing: Jim Trebilcock
Advertising Manager: Sharon Leath

Additional Deutsch Credits:
Mike Sheldon, CEO
Account Management Credits:
David Dreyer, Group Account Director
Helen Murray, VP Account Director
Andrew DuBois, Account Supervisor
Kate DeMallie, Assistant Account Executive
Account Planners:
Jeffrey Blish, Chief Strategic Officer
Aileen Russell, Group Planning Director
Business Affairs
Abilino Guillermo: Director of Integrated Business Affairs

Meet San Diego's Worst Rapper, Real Estate Agent Rafael A. Perez

John Tejada — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:08:26 GMT

Today, everyone does everything. You have actor-writer-rappers (Donald Glover, Jamie Foxx), dancers turned actors (Jennifer Lopez, Channing Tatum), pro athletes attempting to rap (Shaq, Allen Iverson), and so on. So, when Rafael A. Perez, a San Diego realtor, decided to produce a rap video to "express the state of real estate" there, who was going to stop him? Yes, the housing market in the U.S. collapsed a few years ago, but R.A.P. (Rafael A. Perez's emcee moniker) is here to tell you that it's BACK! Along with the American dream! At least in San Diego! The YouTube video, titled "Welcome to the 619," is a hopeful and amusing bid to get people excited about the area again. It's filled with bad lip-syncing, a barely conscious Perez, zooms of Google images, MLK Jr. quotes, and of course American flags. I don't know about you, but I think it's about to get real crowded in the 619.

Charmin Welcomes Fans to Nascar Race With Billboard Potty Humor

David Kiefaber — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:18:31 GMT

I love it when brands finally catch on to jokes the rest of us were making in fourth grade. This time it's Charmin, which treated fans at the Charlotte Motor Speedway's Sprint All-Star Race to an underwear-shaped billboard that said "Stop Skidmarks." That phrase also applies to cars, you see. Given the kinds of ostentatious crap we often see with billboard design, this idea was refreshingly concise and to the point, if a tad juvenile. And it's certainly less offensive than the "Back Got Back" commercial. Photo via @trippmickle.

Goodby, Silverstein Brings the Funny for YouTube's First-Ever Comedy Week

Tim Nudd — Sat, 18 May 2013 17:16:36 GMT

To hype its inaugural Comedy Week, which begins Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET, YouTube turned to an ad agency known for generating its share of laughs: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. The San Francisco-based shop's New York office whipped up a load of ads (many of them :15s) that have been airing in recent weeks starring the Comedy Week's actors and comedians. Check out a whole bunch of those spots below. (At the bottom is a longer promo with Arnold Schwartzenegger, which YouTube produced in-house, but we have to include because it's awkwardly hilarious.)

Goodby also designed a special YouTube masthead that will run all day Sunday to promote that night's kickoff. It shows a bathroom wall inside a comedy club. You can scroll around, click different doodles and find Easter eggs like Venn diagrams for classic jokes; a mounted moose head who doubts Comedy Week will be funny (he says things like "I have serious doubts about the funniness of this week" and "the humor is very subtle … and by subtle I mean unfunny"); and a phone number—(888) 303-3771—you can call for a good time (if you're not having one already).

The first two-hour live stream starts Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. New shows will air each night this week at midnight ET through Saturday. Guests will include Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Seth Rogen, Comedy Central's Tim and Eric, Conan O'Brien, Rainn Wilson, Ricky Gervais and Sarah Silverman, and YouTube stars The Gregory Brothers, Rhett & Link and Ryan Higa.

Schwartzenegger spot produced in-house by YouTube:

Better Eyewear Means Fewer Dead Cats, Says Amusing Specsavers Ad

Tim Nudd — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:53:07 GMT

The best performance by a cat in a TV commercial this week goes to the fluffy mess in this new British spot for eyewear maker Specsavers. Not that the veterinarian here would know—he's not clear on what a cat is anymore. Specsavers, of course, has a long and proud history of offbeat commercials. The best mistaken-animal-identity spot, though, remains the brilliant raccoon commercial from Sears Optical.

British Advertising Hits New Low With Commercial Starring Talking Butt Crack

Tim Nudd — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:21:32 GMT

What a week it's been. As Friday draws to a close, I see your defecating man in the exercise video and your threesome-inducing Sexual Chocolate wine, and I raise you one talking butt crack in this British advert for something called Polycell. It's some sort of spray product that promises "No more unsightly cracks" in your walls. Unfortunately, there's one major unsightly crack in the commercial. And it talks. David Ogilvy would be proud. Agency: 18 Feet & Rising. Full list of perpetrators below.

CREDITS
Client: Polycell
Agency: 18 Feet & Rising
Creative Director: Stephen de Wolf
Creatives: Alex Delaney & Oli O'Neill
Agency Producer: Emily Hodgson Julia Methold
Account Director: Adrienne Little
Strategic Business Lead Rob Ward
Director: Simon Willows
Production Company: Blink
Production Company Producer: Tiernan Hanby
Executive Production Company Producer: James Bretton
Editor: Mark Aarons
Post Production Company: The Electric Theatre Company
Post Production Company Producer: Helen Sutermeister
VFX Supervisor: Andrew Stewart
Colourist: Steffan Perry @ Framestore
Sound Engineer: Tony @ Wave Studios

Dumb Ways to Die Is Now a Video Game for the iPhone and iPad

Tim Nudd — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:38:53 GMT

There are now even more "Dumb Ways to Die"—and smart ways to live—as McCann Australia has made a video game out of its beloved, superviral train-safety ad from last year. "Starring all the characters from the viral hit Dumb Ways to Die for Metro Trains Melbourne, the game allows players to flick piranhas away from a character's private parts and defend another from a snake attack among other ways to avoid being dumb," the agency says. "Players can also pledge to 'not do dumb stuff around trains' at the click of a button." The game, developed by McCann in collaboration with local developer Barrel Of Donkeys, has been the No. 1 free app in Australia for a week, and is charting in 79 other countries. John Mescall, executive creative director of McCann Australia, said: "With the main Dumb Ways to Die video now close to 46 million views, we wanted to give young people another platform on which to enjoy the characters and, more importantly, to continue to remind them that being dumb around trains can and should be avoided."

He Shoots, He Scores: David Beckham's 10 Most-Viral Commercials

Tim Nudd — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:14:14 GMT

David Beckham is retiring from professional soccer, but he'll never stop making ads. One of the world's most prolific pitchmen, the former England captain has sold everything from underwear and soda to hamburgers and, yes, athletic gear—building, with posh wife Victoria, the Beckham brand into a global juggernaut. (David alone is believed to make more than $40 million a year in endorsement money.) At the link below, check out the 10 most-viral commercials Becks has ever done, as compiled by Unruly Media. And like Michael Jordan before him, expect to see plenty more Beckham ads for years to come.

Video Gallery: David Beckham's 10 Most-Viral Commercials

YouTube Star Tobuscus Forced Into Making Insane Musical Ad for Hot Pockets

David Kiefaber — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:15:47 GMT

Stand-up comedian, actor, songwriter and noted YouTube personality Toby "Tobuscus" Turner made this fourth-wall-shattering musical ad for Hot Pockets in which he is bullied by an unseen voiceover into singing about the new Cuban Style and Spicy Beef Nacho flavors. God help us all, Spicy Beef Nacho? I can already hear my toilet crying. Anyway, the concept might not thrill you, but the execution is top notch, mostly due to Turner's facial expressions. Now I want to see him in some sort of comedy duel with Jim Gaffigan, who once compared Hot Pockets to filling a Pop Tart with nasty meat. Making this ad is like slapping Gaffigan in the face with a dueling glove.

Microsoft Hammers Google in Leaked Parody of a Chrome Ad

David Gianatasio — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:28:07 GMT

Microsoft takes a break from perfecting its blue screen of death to ape Google's ad style—abundant white space, bouncing Chrome ball, Beethoven's Fifth on the soundtrack—in this anti-Google video that was reportedly intended for internal use but was conveniently leaked to the universe just in time for Google's big I/O developers conference. Tagged with the same "Don't get Scroogled" line that Microsoft uses whenever it needles the only digital company more reviled than itself, the spot warns, "With Google Chrome, everything everywhere is tracked. To target you with ads. To monetize your personal info. … Google watches everything you do and uses it to make a profit off of you. Chrome has you commercialized." Cool. Google can trash my privacy and pick my pocket as long as there's some value added. ("Commercialized" is a good thing, right? I can always Google it and find out. See—value added!) What's Microsoft done for anyone lately? Since they took away the Windows start button, I just stare at a blank PC screen and write all my stories on a Mac. Though Google did give the world Glassholes, so I guess they're just as bad.

The original Google Chrome spot:

Here's the Real (and Real Silly) Dunder Mifflin Ad Airing Tonight on the Series Finale of The Office

Rebecca Cullers — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:05:39 GMT

Looking forward to the series finale of The Office tonight? Here's something else to look forward to. The real Dunder Mifflin ad below—for the defictionalized paper brand whose products you can actually buy at Quill.com—will air in five Dunder Mifflin "branch" markets (Scranton, Pa., Akron, Ohio, and Utica, Albany and Syracuse, N.Y.) as well as Chicago (the home market of Lincolnshire-based Quill) during tonight's telecast. Just as the NBC show winds down, Dunder Mifflin paper is ramping up its advertising. (It's already among the best-selling brands in the office-supply category.) Its slogan, "Limitless paper in a paperless world," is what drives this spot, which is all about a guy who can turn anything he touches into Dunder Mifflin paper. Of course, he immediately uses his power to prank his co-workers the same way Jim pranks Dwight. The Midas touch is a well-worn theme in advertising, and they're not really challenging any conventions. But let's face it. This is as good as paper advertising gets.

Creak, Crack, Crunch. Local Chiropractor's Goofy Ad Is Painful to Watch

Tim Nudd — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:13:32 GMT

Just a few weeks after making the most awkward transmission-repair ad ever, Rhett & Link are back with another goofy local commercial—this one for the Ryan Lee Chiropractic Center in Los Angeles. It stars the eponymous practitioner, who twists, turns and otherwise contorts the bodies of his patients until their skeletons emit rather sickening crunching sounds. It only gets worse as the ad goes on. The tagline is "Gentle. Comfortable. Professional"—although if that's true, it's not totally clear what's going on at 0:41.

Fitness Company's Video Goes Viral Thanks to Dude Taking a Dump in the Background

Tim Nudd — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:10:15 GMT

Viral marketing can be a dirty business. Check out this fitness video from TheDailyHiit.com, purveyor of home-workout routines and equipment. Right around the :33 mark, you'll notice a surprise guest on the left who is engaged in a whole different kind of exercise. What do you think—an honest mistake at a low-budget shoot, or a sneaky trick to get attention? Via Reddit, where the top comment presents this five-point conspiracy theory:

1. Are we expected to believe that this guy takes a shit with the door open normally?
2. This guy wouldn't leave the door open when there's a camera, which he can clearly see, looking at him.
3. The person operating the camera would have noticed this guy taking a shit.
4. The lights in the bathroom are off. This doesn't make sense unless it was done in order to make the guy less obvious, which would only be done if they were trying to make this look like a mistake.
5. Comments on the ad are being held for approval. Any comment pointing out that this ad is staged is not being approved.

Hard to argue, really. I would add a sixth incriminating observation: TheDailyHiit's online store is called The Shiit.

Dollar Shave Club CEO Michael Dubin Pops Up in an American Express Ad

Tim Nudd — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:37:43 GMT

The only really surprisingly thing about Dollar Shave Club CEO Michael Dubin's appearance in an American Express ad is that it didn't happen sooner. It's been more than a year since Dubin charmed impecunious razor purchasers everywhere with his amusing starring role in his company's debut ad. He's a born pitchman—for whoever he'd like to endorse. The AmEx spot frankly is a little bland, but it proves that while the man may know his dollars, he has trouble with his cents. Via Co.Create.

Michael Ian Black's Twitter Ad for Dos Equis Does Gangbusters Thanks to All the Haters

Tim Nudd — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:09:09 GMT

Michael Ian Black is not the most interesting man in the world, but he might be the most interesting beer endorser. Last Friday, the comedian, who has 2 million Twitter followers, posted a tweet to a Dos Equis app—which seemed somewhat out of character for him. And indeed, when called on it, he freely admitted that he's been paid for the tweet. Black took a fair amount of heat for being a shill, but responded to the haters frankly, and often humorously. He also got support from some fans, including model Chrissy Tiegen. The best part? He got his revenge on the haters in the best way possible—for Dos Equis, at least. "Because the blowback on it has been so unexpectedly harsh, I'm going to tweet it again for free," he wrote, and then did just that. See below for some highlights from the saga. Via Business Insider.

I just turned myself into a Most Interesting Person with the new @dosequis Legend of You app. Check it out on.fb.me/166xmC6
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 10, 2013

@planetoffinks No, they wrote it and paid me thousands of dollars to run it.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

@planetoffinks I dunno. I just like money.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

@planetoffinks Hopefully the salaries they didn't get went towards paying me.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

Enjoy your Dos Equis, my friend. RT @interpolantics1: @michaelianblack @dosequis wish you had died on 9/11, fucking douche.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

@brianlynch @dosequis It's a terrific beer drink from Canada!
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 12, 2013

@brianlynch @dosequis I literally have NO idea.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 12, 2013

@chrissyteigen No shit. I'm certainly happy to do it. BTW, is there anything you need promoted?
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

Yes @dosequis payed me to tweet. But because the blowback on it has been so unexpectedly harsh, I'm going to tweet it again for free.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 12, 2013

I just turned myself into a Most Interesting Person with the new @dosequis Legend of You app. Check it out on.fb.me/166xmC6
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 12, 2013

My only regret, and it is a HUGE regret, in tweeting for Dos Equis, is that I somehow misspelled the word "paid." bit.ly/16lcsA7
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 16, 2013

How Your Depraved Facebook Posts Would Get You Tortured in Other Countries

David Griner — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:25:47 GMT

How often would your Facebook activity get you beaten, tortured or beheaded in the world's most repressive countries? A lot more often than you'd think. Amnesty International of New Zealand and agency Colenso BBDO of Auckland created an app called "Trial by Timeline" that analyzes your Facebook posts and lets you know how you might be brutalized in countries that persecute people based on everything from sexual orientation and religion to drinking and writing for the media. (I was beaten and tortured more than 270 times, but at least I wasn't beheaded or stoned to death.) It's a morbidly fascinating way to explore the liberties most of us take for granted. The app actually came out late last year but didn't get much attention until it was featured recently by The Inspiration Room and a few other sites.

Lucky Charms Does Giant Bong Hit, Unleashes Auto-Tune Leprechaun

T.L. Stanley — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:37:22 GMT

What could be better than an Auto-Tune leprechaun singing about his magically delicious cereal? Nothing! This 15-second Lucky Charms ad, which mixes current commercial footage, vintage images and goofy-great vocal manipulation, will air during high-profile TV shows this week like the Billboard Music Awards and the season finales of American Idol and The Voice. Its inspiration came from major doses of hallucinogenic drugs and/or a St. Patrick's Day promotion for the General Mills brand that included a mashup music video that went viral with nearly 1 million views. There were many hot-shot creative hands on deck here (see the credits below), but all you really need to know is that the result is super groovy. Watch the full video for a trippy walk down memory lane.

CREDITS
—Ad
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Production: Pat-Man Studios
Composer: Jeff Elmassian
—Video
YouTube's Machinima channel and Melodysheep, mashup maker

Bakers Burn Their Brand to a Crisp in Epic Facebook Meltdown

Rebecca Cullers — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:15:23 GMT

UPDATE: The bakery is now claiming its social-media accounts were hacked, and that it did not post the incendiary messages. This claim is not being wholeheartedly accepted by commenters on the Facebook page. Original post below:

Social media allows consumers to talk to brands, and brands to yell back loudly at consumers with massive meltdowns that will forever be preserved thanks to the glory of the print-screen button. Amy's Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro, a horrible restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz., has just demonstrated a valuable lesson for every brand out there: Don't feed the trolls. Really, don't engage. Panties all in a bunch over the fact that Gordon Ramsay gave up on them, the owners took to Facebook to defend themselves. Yes, Ramsay declared that for the first time in the history of Kitchen Nightmares, he had met two owners he simply couldn't help. So, Amy and Sammy decided set the record straight by swearing, threatening to pursue legal action against Yelp and Reddit, claiming god is on their side, and generally freaking out in all caps—drawing more and more Internet ire with every expletive-filled rant. It's a glorious day for crazy on display. Click through to BuzzFeed for more exquisite details on what not to do.

Man Strikes Back at Abercrombie & Fitch by Giving Its Clothes to the Homeless

Tim Nudd — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:59:24 GMT

It's fairly well established that Abercrombie & Fitch doesn't want the wrong sort of people wearing its clothes. A couple of years back, it even offered (as part of a goofy PR stunt) to pay Jersey Shore star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino to stop buying its apparel, saying his implicit endorsement "could cause significant damage to our image." Now, the clothier is getting heat for its supposedly exclusionary marketing policies once again—this time based on a 7-year-old quote from CEO Mike Jeffries. In the quote—dredged up in the wake of similar criticisms levied at A&F in a new book—Jeffries says, "In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids." That incensed a guy named Greg Karber, who decided to try to piss Jeffries off by giving A&F clothes to the most uncool kids he could find—homeless people. Despite Karber's best intentions, his video of the stunt comes off as forced and, in a way, exploitative itself, as he's simply using the homeless as a tool to trash the brand. (The charity aspect is clearly incidental.) But the video, posted Monday, is quickly closing in on a million views, proving yet again that hating on Abercrombie is a pastime most people can get behind.

California Winery's Ads Pair the Product With Sex, Drugs and More Sex

David Kiefaber — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:06:41 GMT

Intemperance comes in many flavors, and SLO Down Wines has pairings for all of them. The California winemaker has rolled out three irreverent ads (from Harvest Films director Baker Smith and Arcade Edit's Paul Martinez and Dean Miyahira) about how well its Sexual Chocolate wine goes with group sex, horse role playing and bong rips, respectively. There's some light parody of insufferable wine-chat ("It's the deep red of a … really red thing"), but they don't spend too much time dwelling on it, and I'm glad they committed to the weird direction these ads went in. Well, except for the part where I saw Brandon Allen in a thong. I may need a glass of wine to throw in my eyes after that. Credits below.

CREDITS
Client: SLO Down Wines
Campaign: Goes Great With  
Spots: "Threesomes," "Equestrianism," "Horticulture"

Production Company: Harvest Films
Director: Baker Smith
Executive Producer: Bonnie Goldfarb
Head of Production: Niko Whelan
Producer: Leslie Owen

Editorial Company: Arcade Edit
Editors: Paul Martinez and Dean Miyahira
Managing Partner/EP: Damian Stevens
Executive Producer: Nicole Visram

Online: Airship Post

Music: Critical Mass
Composer: H. Scott Salinas
Sound Design/Mix: Tobias Enhus

Hyundai Remixes Bob Marley's 'Three Little Birds' for New Ad

David Gianatasio — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:26:54 GMT

Hyundai is getting a lot of coverage for putting Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" in an ad for its Assurance Connected Care in-car customer-service program, largely because the late reggae icon's music is so infrequently licensed for ads. The automaker is also sponsoring a remixed version (done by Bob's son Stephen Marley and DJ/producer Jason Bentley) of Marley's Legend album, which features the song, and a three-minute documentary about the remix project. Despite all the fuss, what strikes me most about the spot, from ad agency Innocean, is how bland it is. It's not bad per se, but the music takes a back seat, as it were, to an informative but uninspired voiceover ("What if your car could help schedule its own service? Call for help with your exact location if you ever ran into trouble out there?") and sight gags involving signs that read "No worries" and "It's all good." The only special element is the song, and it's basically background music, like a tune playing on the car's radio. Any upbeat track would have been equally effective. This is Bob Friggin' Marley! Lively up yourself! Why not seed something more, you know, high concept?

Game Maker Fills Pool With 55,000 Gallons of Blood and Guts, Invites You to Swim in It

T.L. Stanley — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:37:08 GMT

There's a bunch of genetic meddling going on in the new video game Resident Evil Revelations. It may stand to reason, then, that marketer Capcom would stage a wholly unnatural promotion for its release. The company has created "the world's only blood-filled swimming pool"—good gawd, let's hope it's the only one—and tossed in some realistic-looking entrails and body parts. Then what, you ask? For two days later this month, it will invite people to take a dip in the London pool and search for swag! While bobbing for licensed merchandise in viscous liquid might not be everyone's idea of a good time, Capcom has reason to believe that fans of its horror-adventure franchise will be up to the task. For the last installment, Resident Evil 6, the game developer opened a fake butchery selling human body parts in London's famous Smithfields meat market. For the upcoming stunt, 200 people will have the chance to slog through intestines, brains and torsos under the watchful eyes of zombie lifeguards in a 55,000-gallon pool. (That's the equivalent of 11,327 blood-drained people, for those keeping track.) Goggles and towels will be available for loan, but no word on barf bags.